CommentaryThe palace on Jag Mandir Island was built in part by Rana Karen Singh between 1620 and 1628 and was completed by Maharana Jagat Singh I in the following years. It is of particular historical significance for its role in providing sanctuary to Shah Jahan before he ascended to the throne of Hindustan and it is said that he derived a number of ideas for the Taj Mahal from the palace.

Jag Mandir Island was used in 1958 as a location for the filming of both parts of Fritz Lang’s Indian epic, The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb. In Lang’s films both Jag Mandir Island and the Lake Palace are transformed into the fictional summer palace/prison for the dancer Seetha, played by Debra Paget. The film, which uses architecture as a central motif, creates a hugely complex spatial geography within the interconnected, maze-like, palace buildings